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Friday, July 29, 2016

This is Part I of a five part series that showcases a pre-2013 video of the majorette dance line of a Historical Black Colleges and University (HBCU) and includes selected comments from that video's discussion thread.

Part I provides information about Jackson State University's "Prancing J-Settes" and showcases a 2004 video
of that majorette dance group. [Update: I added another video from 2010 because that first video was so short.]

Except for the majorette dance line showcased in Part I, these dance lines aren't given in any particular order. Additional HBCU dance lines will be showcased in subsequent pancocojams posts.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to members of Jackson State University's Prancing J-Settes now and in the past. Thanks to all those who featured in this video and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

Shirley Middleton, a former majorette, initiated the concept of the majorettes abandoning their batons and dancing to popular musical selections. As the majorette sponsor, Shirley Middleton and the majorettes met with Dr. John A. Peoples, the University’s sixth president, and requested that they be permitted to “put down their batons.”

Dr. Peoples agreed and thus legends were born. In 1970, Middleton assembled 18 majorettes, and their notoriety immediately began to soar in rapid proportions...

The group was initially named the “Prancing Jaycettes.” The group’s name became official in 1971. However, in 1982, the Prancing Jaycette organization officially changed its name to Prancing J-Settes, because of a name conflict with a local organization known as the Jackson Jaycees/Jaycettes.

Shirley Middleton served as sponsor of the J-Settes from 1970-1975. In 1975, Narah Oatis was appointed the sponsor of the J-Settes. Under her leadership, the Prancing J-Settes became nationally renowned. During her reign, J-Sette marching technics such as the “Salt and Pepper,” “J-Sette Walk,” “Strut,” and “Tip Toe” were perfected. The J-Settes consisted of lines of 12-16 young ladies who marched in rows affectionately named “Short and Sassy,” “Magnificent Middle,” or a “Tall and Tough.” ...

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From http://hbcubuzz.com/2015/02/top-5-hbcu-dance-lines-2015/ Top 5 HBCU Dance Lines 2015
By HBCU Reporters - Feb 1, 2015
"Jackson State University should be very proud. With over 17% of nearly 40k votes, the J-Settes sashay their way to being the Best HBCU Dance Line for the 2014-2015 school year. The line even received honorable mention from hit television show, Dancing Doll for Life (DD4L), for originating the ‘J-Sette’ style of dance. The Jackson State University Band program began in 1971 and since this time,has raised the bar in the marching band arena. The band has several achievements including halftime performances for the New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals, Atlanta Falcons, and Detroit Lions."
-snip-
The top five dance lines according to the results of people who responded to this unofficial poll were the JSU J-settes, Hampton University's Ebony Fire, Alabama State University's "Stingettes", University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff's Golden Girls, Norfolk State University's Hot Ice Dancers.

Of course, people who posted comments to that article, disagreed with that listing. However, it's interesting that while two of the comments gave their list of the top three HBCU dance lines, JSU's J-Settes remained as #1.

The J-Settes also were ranked #1 in the 2016 version of that unofficial poll http://hbcubuzz.com/2016/03/top-5-hbcu-dance-lines-2016/ for that article. In the order of their ranking, the other four dance lines were
Alabama State University's "Stingettes", Southern University's Dancing Dolls, Hampton University's Ebony Fire, and Prairie View A&M University.'s Black Foxes.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: JSU Jsettes Loose My Breath 2004

ChicagoMarchingBands Uploaded on May 28, 2009

dancing to destinys child loose my breath at the 2004 CCC
-snip-
DISCLAIMER: I arbitrarily chose this video through YouTube surfing. I don't mean to imply that one video could be representative of the entire history of this or any dance squad.
-snip-
I'm not sure what CCC means in relationship to HBCU marching bands.

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SELECTED COMMENTS
These comments are given in relative chronological order, with the oldest dated comments given first, except for responses. However, these comments may not be in consecutive order.

In this comment section and others in this series I'm particularly interested in documenting vernacular terms that are used about j-setting such as "buck", "throw counts", "stands" (meaning "counts" and not stadium bleachers), "field shows", "tail" and "crabs".

I'm also interested in presenting comments that refer to the history of that particular HBCU majorette dance line and/or the changes that have been made in what has come to be known as "j-setting".

I've assigned numbers for referencing purposes only and I've added brief explanatory comments for a few of these comments. (Additions and corrections to these explanatory comments are welcome.)

2009
MakingThaMost
"It took you 10 years to find this, LMAO!! But thank you! They showed out. Nadia had some good routines during her reign as captain. This on and Crazy In Love are the ish."
-snip-
"ish" = a clip of the word "sh&t" - the sh&t means "very good".

**
Ice Kold
"who ever that bright skin chic was in the begginning of the song wit the first high kick on the left of the 50- kick was a good 1:00!!!!!"
-snip-
"Bright skin" = light skin. I think that most Black people would consider this comment to be appropriate as a means of attempting to identify a person, but we usually wouldn't refer to a Black person being "light skin" or "dark skin" for any other reason in verbal conversation.

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Reply
sojazzy06
"It was the one and only Terra Cousin of course!!!"

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2010
thesinger
"This has to be in the top ten performances of jsettes!! Glad to see this back!!"

**
thesinger
"Jasma was khillin it her first two years...2nd row at 1:00"

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thesinger
"Even though they first tried this routine with snake..then they changed it to Lose My Breath..which is much better"

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Greg Traylor
"Nadia was captain 04 this was her routine"

****
2011
KODAK LE'HEAUX
"Every time i watch this...i get goose bumps...the boom was just phenomenal....j settes...that routine goes down in history as one of the best routines from any college dance line...."

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2012
nevano
"@as7090 Yes Shavonda Pennel is in this clip! This was Her crab yr and let me just say a Great yr to come in, by the way 07 Captain WHoop WHoop lol
-snip-
I've read the term “crab” in comment threads for other HBCU majorette dance lines. I think it means the first year a person joined the squad (team).

**
amus1calfreak
"Nobody can keep up......J-Settes had the best routine PERIOD to this song!!! This definitely goes down in the Top 10 HBCU Danceline Routines"
-snip-
"Nobody can keep up" means no other dance team can keep up with the J-Settes.

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drilladise
"Let's not forget the field was soaking wet it had rained the entire game *THEY ROCK*"

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2015
8thwonder0608
"LEGENDARY routine and performance."

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2016
ILoveMyHIU3
"People don't give Nadia enough credit. I think she was a very good captain."

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Reply
"8thwonder0608
+ILoveMyHIU She was!! She created some intricate field shows.
-snip-
"field shows"= j-sette routines that are performed on the football field

**
ChicagoMarchingBands
"Nadia was one of my favorite captains! She was never over the top but had a tight squad."

**
ILoveMyHIU
"+8thwonder0608 Even though Swoop was created by Afrachanna, I like how Nadia added in the transitions for Homecoming 2004. In my opinion it just flowed better than how they performed it in the years prior to 04'."

**
Reply
8thwonder0608
"+ILoveMyHIU YES!! That was awesome. However, the BEST performance of Swoop was when they danced in tiger girl! It was either 99 or 2000. The routine was flawless and in my opinion the best performance in J-sette history. It was soooo good. A lost gem. I haven't seen it here on youtube since 06, 07. "

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Reply
ILoveMyHIU
"+8thwonder0608 they originally performed it in 99 while wearing a Tiger Girl then they did it again in 01. Look up JSU vs. NCAT. The footage is from 2001, if you skip to 5:45 that's when Swoop begins. The footage isn't that great but it's the only one I could find of that routine."
-snip-
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w8zzptVtEw for a 2012 video of the J-Sette's performing "Swoop".

-snip-
DISCLAIMER: I arbitrarily chose this video through YouTube surfing. I don't mean to imply that one video could be representative of the entire history of this or any dance squad.
-snip-
Selected comments
[The editorial notes about how these comments are presented that are given above also apply to these selected comments.]

2010
1. karamalebro
"JSettes have the best transitions. They don't march into new ones like most HBCU dancers do. They dance into them. A+﻿"

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Reply
2. willie covington, 2011

"i agree with you karamalebro..they do the best at transitioning than any squad ive seen on video..they dance into their formations and not walk into them..these girls just dont get enough credit,but they are always getting bashed on their videos...﻿"

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3. mrzbugzbunny13
"Y r they doing a different routine? Just curious..."

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4. KODAK LE'HEAUX
"I could not sit still at the game watching this damn routine...i was so ecstatic, intrigued by this flawless performance....Shanketta definitely deserves an award for best captain to date....and yall gone stop haitin on Vic....she's just a naturally thick, toned, muscular girl....baby got hips, thighs, and a** lol..."
-snip-
This was how that comment was written in that discussion thread.
-snip-
"Vic" = J-Sette member "Vicky". This comment was part of an exchange about "thick" (big boned) J-Sette dancers.

**
Reply
5. karamalebro
"@mrzbugzbunny13 The second set of dancers were paying a triibute to the NAACP Image Awards performance." ﻿

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6. Lilshone287
"The Best Band in Land, and The Best Danceline that ever existed!! Shanketta is the best captain to date.. I'm really gonna miss her!﻿"

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7. ChicagoMarchingBands
"Great routine. But Knights and cold hearted need to be retired from being jsette routines every other year﻿"

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I'm an African American mother, grandmother, & retired human services administrator. For more than forty years I have shared adapted West African stories with audiences in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area.
I have four blogspots: pancocojams, zumalayah, cocojams2, and .Civil Rights Songs. Much of the content of these blogs were previously found on my cocojams and jambalayah cultural websites. I curate all of these blogs on a voluntary basis.
Each of these blogs have the primary goal of raising awareness about cultural aspects of African American culture and of other Black cultures throughout the world, particularly in regards to music & dance traditions.
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